Harrowing Scene from "A Model Murder"

EXTRACT FROM A MODEL MURDER:

 “Did I not make it perfectly clear to you before that there are certain matters in this firm which are no concern of yours?” He pointed his finger at me as he walked towards me, causing me to walk backwards so that I was now standing against the wall. He put his arms on the wall either side of me, so effectively I was pinned against it with him standing over me.

“Yes,” I responded, looking up at him.

“Then what the fuck are you doing asking Teresa’s secretary questions which are of no relevance to your work here?” he screamed. He was so close to me that I could smell his tobacco breath and I turned my head to the side to avoid it.

“There must be some misunderstanding,” I replied. “I’m only carrying out the work Andy left me.”

“You couldn’t leave it alone, could you, Alicia?” He was menacing. “You know what they say about people who mess with fire?” he added, taking his arms away from the wall. He reached into his right suit pocket, took out a lighter and repeatedly flicked it open and shut within millimetres of my face. “They get burned.”

I closed my eyes for a second, then opened them and swallowed hard. My heart was pounding, I felt hot and sick and I could not speak. He paused. “And we couldn’t have that happening to you, could we?”

***

Thank you, Marlan Warren, for featuring this passage from my mystery novel on your Facebook Book Publicity by Marlan page today (as the "Book del Giorno").

A landmark day in Family law and the implications for litigants in person

Today has seen the implementation of some major family law reforms including the introduction of a Single Family Court, a new Public Law Outline and the Child Arrangements Programme. When I wrote the 3rd Edition of my legal handbook Fathers Matter last year I set out changes the Government was expected to implement. I recently wrote a guest article for the Separated Dads website "Time to pay more than LIP service to Litigants in Person" setting out key changes. If you are interested in reading the piece then please click here.

On the subject of litigants in person, I came across an article in the Law Society Gazette today by Catherine Baksi entitled "Unrepresented parties become the majority in family law cases" which states that more than half of all parties in child related cases are unrepresented. You can read the article by clicking here. But this should surely come as no surprise at all what with the cuts to legal aid in private law children matters and prohibitive legal costs. The fact is litigants in person have been steadily increasing in recent years and even eleven years ago while I was researching and writing the first edition of my legal handbook Fathers Matter I met many fathers who were already representing themselves. By the time I wrote the third edition last year it was evident that numbers had significantly increased and I decided to expand the contents to assist those who find themselves either through choice or necessity unrepresented at court. 

Obviously the ideal is to keep parties out of the court process and the Government's reforms are geared to directing parties to alternative dispute resolution, particularly mediation. But the fact is that in high conflict cases where the parties cannot make their own arrangements and the matter proceeds to court the likelihood is that more of those parties will be litigants in person now and who must receive due consideration from the the court.

If you are interested in seeing how views are changing take a look at the interview with myself and Philippa Kennedy on BBC Breakfast in September 2004 by clicking here.

Book Publicity by Marlan..

For all your book publicity needs I highly recommend Marlan Warren. You can go to her webpage by clicking here.

As an author with three crime novels in need of better marketing strategies and publicity, I have found Marlan to be a seriously good publicist because she devotes time and trouble in clearly identifying her clients' objectives at the outset and then defining what is realistically achievable in publicity terms--both in the short and long-term. She is very resourceful, has an eye for detail, a talent for writing and research, and a pragmatic--but positive approach--to every issue. From a client’s perspective it is a joy to deal with someone who is so responsive, constructive and supportive. As a client I feel very reassured in her hands and have confidence in her considerable abilities to promote my work. She is very personable and easy to deal with – an added bonus!